Revelation Records has long been a foundation for hardcore punk collectors. Patrick Kitzel of Tribal Publishing is marking the label's early years with The First 25: A Record Collection, a book that documents the vinyl variations from Revelation's first 25 releases.
The idea for the book started after another publishing project did not work out earlier this year.
"I already had a lot of my Rev vinyl scanned," Kitzel tells No Echo. "I figured I'd change plans and put together a discography of my collection and have something people could reference that's actually in print. There's a great website called TrueTillRev.com that has everything digitally, but books are my passion and something I love collecting."
Kitzel has been collecting Revelation releases since he was 15, starting with the BOLD and Judge LPs. Nearly all of the vinyl in The First 25 comes from his own collection. Other collectors helped fill in the last few pieces to make the book as complete as possible.
The book covers the label's first releases, including records from Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Judge, BOLD, and Gorilla Biscuits. Members of the TrueTillRev.com team helped with fact-checking during the process.
Kitzel designed the book's editions to reflect the approach of Revelation's early records. "I wanted to make the book in the spirit of how Rev's early releases came out," he says. "The softcover is 7-inch sized with a gold 7-inch on the front, while the hardcover is limited to 110 copies as a nod to the Chung King Can Suck It 12-inch. Those are hand-stamped and have a Chung King-ish colorway."
For collectors who have spent years tracking down Revelation pressings, and for anyone interested in hardcore's vinyl history, The First 25 is meant to be a thorough printed reference for one of the genre's most influential labels.
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Both the regular and soft-cover Chung King Can Suck It versions of The First 25: A Record Collection are available now via Tribal Publishing.
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